


Family Reunion

by outer_space_beech



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Cuddling, F/M, Fake Dating, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Get Together, Holding Hands, Its a Family Reunion!, Kissing, Making Out, amy realising how much she loves him, because i'm a bitch for that, but stuff leading up to, jake bein sweet, no explicit sexual stuff, nothing graphic, so much love, sweet words, yas bish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 07:27:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21406435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outer_space_beech/pseuds/outer_space_beech
Summary: The Santiago's are having a family reunion/vacation! But Amy doesn't want to be the only Santiago sibling without a partner - I wonder who she'll take?
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 20
Kudos: 137





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote a fic with a bunch of stuff that I'm a slut for - fake dating, friends to lovers, Disneyland, ect. You get the idea. Its like the first fic I've written and I mostly wrote it for myself but figured why not post it ya know? This is set in place of Johnny and Dora btw, they're married but here I am writing a get together fic for my favs.  
If you actually end up reading through the whole thing then thank you so so much.

** _2 Months Before_ **

Amy Santiago loved her family more than anything else in the world, they could be crazy sometimes, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. However, as her and her brothers had grown up and moved out many of them had moved to different cities and some to different states entirely. Amy would never admit that sometimes she would miss her brothers. She was one of the few who stayed in New York, which meant she still got to see her parents often. Eventually one of her brothers came up with the idea of a reunion of sorts, and Amy was completely on board. Unfortunately, she got busy with work and was unable to help plan the reunion with her brothers and let them do it on their own. Amy expected a nice dinner or even an overnight stay somewhere close by, but her brothers somehow came to the idea of going to Los Angeles for four days to “do fun activities” and “make memories”. Reading back through their group chat Amy saw that someone jokingly mentioned Disneyland and that was all the fuel they needed. She’s sure her brothers will never completely grow up.

When she told her parents about the trip the first thing her mom asked her was if Amy was bringing anyone with her, which was her moms’ way of asking if she had a boyfriend yet. Amy wasn’t ashamed of being single, she was focusing on her career right now and she was content with that. However, all her brothers had partners so she would be the only one to arrive to the reunion alone.

Just a few months ago Amy would have happily brought Teddy with her, responsible, safe and financially stable Teddy. But Teddy was boring and after some thought she knew that her brothers would’ve hated Teddy and they’d let Amy know it. She shudders thinking about what happened at the bed and breakfast, how Teddy told Jake that she liked him and Amy had to pretend that it was all in the past. She had to swallow sadness when her and Jake decided they were “just friends”. She had to watch Jake go through a breakup where he loved someone who didn’t love him back, he would show up to work without his goofyness or his wide smile and everyone hated Sophia for making him that way.

He has mostly moved on from Sophia now, he is back to his normal ways of making fun of Amy and coming up with undercover personas at every possible opportunity. But she will never forget how much Sophia hurt him.

Two months before the reunion, Amy’s mom calls her.

“Hello darling, how are you?

Amy can already tell by the enthusiasm in her moms voice that she has something she wants to tell Amy, but she still plays along as if she didn’t know any better.

“Hi mom, I’m good, work has been busy but you know, I don’t mind. How are you, mom?”

“I’m great. So I’m calling to ask you something” Amy rolls her eyes, knowing exactly what was coming next “I was wondering if you were bringing anyone to the reunion because Leslie introduced me to her son Dave the other day and he is a very sweet young man. He’s a doctor and I think he’d be perfect, I’ll set up a time to meet-“

“Actually! I am bringing someone”

Amy loved her mother, except for when she’d try to set Amy up with her friends son’s who were not perfect for her at all. She appreciated that her mom just cared about her but Amy was done going on horrible dates. However, Amy could not tell you why she just told her mother she was bringing someone. The best description for it would be word vomit, Amy did not realise what she saying until it was halfway out and couldn’t stop herself.

“Oh, well then, may I ask who exactly are you bringing with you?”

Camila asked suspiciously, and Amy was able to hear the smirk on her moms face. Amy scrambled for a name, any name she could possibly think of.

“Uh I’m bringing… Jake, yep, I’m bringing Jake”

There’s the word vomit again, Amy seems to be letting it all out today. Why Jake, out of all the names and people Amy could think of she had to say Jake. This is not a good situation, she has just dug herself into a hole that she is unable to get her way out of. If she could curl into a ball on the floor and never talk to anyone again, she would right now, because Amy may have just made one of the biggest mistakes of her life, and Amy doesn’t make mistakes. She has now gone into a situation without a plan and that panic has settled in quite nicely.

Why choose Jake as her fake boyfriend, why did she have to say him. Fulfil her fantasy of actually wanting Jake to be her boyfriend. Amy is annoyed at herself, she sounds like she’s in middle school again.

“Ah Jake from work, I cannot wait to meet him. How long have you been together?”

Camila is eager to ask as many questions as possible, but Amy cannot answer anything else while she’s spiralling.

“Oh um sorry mum but Holt needs me in his office urgently, big case, so I’ve gotta go back to work but I’ll talk to you soon about everything I promise. Love you, bye!”

Amy manages to get all of that out quick enough so that her mom won’t question it.

“Oh okay, bye, love you too”

Amy hangs up the phones a little more aggressively than she should have. She isn’t mad at her mom because she meant well, she just cared about Amy. Amy was mad at herself for being unprepared and stupid.

With no actual big case to attend to, Amy is left to stew with her thoughts. Amy isn’t an impulsive person, she plans things and is careful to avoid mistakes, that phone call demonstrated none of those qualities. She is careful in hiding her feelings from Jake, especially while he was with Sophia and while getting over her. The big problem is that Amy likes Jake, but he loved Sophia. She is worried he has moved on from Amy and so she is left with feelings for someone who doesn’t like her back.

Amy packs up and goes home, she curses herself on her way home, muttering to herself “why did you do this to yourself”.

-

** _1 Month Before_ **

A month goes by and Amy was good about not letting slip that she accidentally invited Jake to her family reunion trip. If she was able to hide her feelings for months on end then she could easily hide this for a month or so, but Amy wasn’t stupid and knew that she had to tell Jake eventually. If she told her mom that she was bringing someone and then showed up alone it’d be even more embarrassing that just being there alone.

Amy arrived twenty minutes early to work as per usual, she didn’t feel nervous about telling Jake what she did, they were friends and he would understand. Last night in her apartment and on her way to the precinct this morning she rehearsed exactly what she was going to say to him. Amy was prepared and she never felt anxious or nervous when she had prepared properly for a situation.

Jake then arrived ten minutes late, using some made up excuse as to why when Amy knew that the reason was just that he hit snooze on his alarm too many times. Amy wasn’t panicking until Jake walked into the bullpen and sat down at his desk, then it hit her like a tidal wave. It was real and she had to actually say to his face that she said he was her boyfriend. Calm and prepared Amy went completely out the window, the words she had rehearsed she had to say in front of someone – and not just any someone, but Jake.

She made it two hours without being weird until she was using a pencil to write out notes and started chewing on it when her mind drifted back to Jake and the reunion trip. Unbeknownst to Amy, she had been chewing on the pencil incredibly loud and after a few minutes of enduring the noises Jake finally spoke up.

“Are you okay because you’ve been chewing on that pencil for five minutes and while I kinda wanna see if you can fully chew through it I also know that you probably shouldn’t”

Amy decides that she can answer this in one of two ways, lie and say she’s fine, or be honest with him. She goes with the honest option because she doesn’t think she can handle another lie.

“Can I talk to you in the evidence lock up?” She managed to finally look Jake in the eye.

He nods and they go off in the direction of the evidence lock up together, ignoring Boyle’s suggestive looks that are not subtle in any way. Once in the evidence lock up Amy starts pacing whilst Jake walks in behind her and closes the door. Amy looks at him as she paces and sees how concerned he looks, it’s so sweet the he cares that much about her still. She pushes that thought back for now, feelings will make this conversation even harder.

“So uh what’s up? And can you please stop pacing its freaking me out a little”

“Alright, you’re not allowed to interrupt me until I’m done talking or make fun of me at all”

She tells him sternly after she stops pacing, Jake simply nods while keeping a questioning and concerned look plastered on his face.

“So we’ve go a family reunion trip coming up and my mom keeps trying to set me up on dates so that I’m not the only one out of my siblings who doesn’t have a partner and I’m so goddamn sick of it that I accidentally told her I was bringing someone and when she asked who I may have accidentally say you so do you want a free trip to LA for four days in return for pretending to be my boyfriend”

Amy says it all way too fast and in what feels like a single breath. There’s a moment of silence where Jake is looking her shocked, unsure of how to respond to such a proposition. He’s also amazed that the calculated, prepared and unimpulsive Amy Santiago got herself into such a situation. Amy is tapping her fingers on her thigh because she’s getting increasingly anxious the longer the stretch of silence goes on. Then suddenly, a sly smile spreads across Jake’s face going from ear to ear and Amy knows exactly what that smile means.

“I’ll do it, but what do I get in return?”

He said it without the smile leaving his face. Amy had expected this question because she knows Jake and knows that he would not do this for nothing. She then has a smile to mirror his, knowing that there’s only a couple of words that will convince him without a doubt.

“All expenses paid trip to Disneyland”

“YES!”

“Thank you so much Jake, really though I owe you so much. I’ll send an email with the details and don’t worry I’ve already got everything organised and an itinerary, not that you’ll worry about being organised. Thank you!”

Amy grabs his shoulders and pulls him in for a hug, she feels Jake stiffen for a second before hugging her back. She then speed walks out of the evidence lock up to change her hotel room and book another plane ticket. Jake walked out slowly behind her and immediately goes to see Holt about getting the time off, Holt isn’t happy about two of his best detectives being gone at the same time but doesn’t question it and allows the time off.

An hour later after Amy had organised everything, she sent Jake a personal email outlining the information he would need about the trip. She knows Jake will definitely skim through it instead of properly reading it but Amy is proud of the organisation and it grounds her from her anxiety. Neither of them mention the trip at work in case someone from the squad were to overhear, but they both know that eventually someone will ask why they have the same days off of work. During a stakeout they figure out their responses.

“Well I don’t need to lie, I’m going to be honest and say that I have my family reunion. Which is great because lying makes me anxious.”

“You’re insane and a terrible liar so that works fine. I’ll just say that I’m helping my mom move house for a few days because I’m the best son ever”

“You’re not actually helping her move though”

“Yeah but if she was I’d help, it’s the thought that counts Ames”

Amy rolls her eyes but smiles, something she finds herself doing often around Jake. Because whilst he can be immature, she wouldn’t have it any other way. He makes her laugh and smile with silly jokes and backstories for undercovers personas he’ll never use and Amy doesn’t know what she’d do without that.

That night after work Jake goes out to Shaw’s with Gina and tells her everything, Jake can’t keep this to himself and always feels bad lying to Gina. He vents his feelings and she feeds him shots in response while giving very little actual advice on how to deal with his feelings towards Amy and stupidly agreeing to pretend to be her boyfriend.

“Seriously, I’m a goddamn idiot”

“Yes, you’re a clueless idiot”

“Wow thanks for making me feel better Gina”

“Dude just hook up with her already, she needs to lose her virginity and the only person she wants to do that with is you, trust me on this”

Jake simply nods in response, downs his last shot and decides he needs to go home before he has a mental breakdown in the bar.

-

** _1 Week Before_ **

Its one week before they leave for the trip and Amy finds herself standing in front of Jake’s apartment, holding a large binder and a bag of Chinese food while trying to build up the courage to knock on his door. She finally knocks and regrets it as soon as she does because this was a stupid idea, but its too late now as she hears footsteps getting closer. Jake answers the door with his charming smile, wearing the same jeans he wore to work but had changed his shirt to one with multiple food stains and Amy tried not to visibly cringe when she saw it. His smile turned softer and sincere when he saw that it was Amy.

“Oh hey Ames, what’s up?”

He opened the door wider as a signal for her to enter, she walked in and placed the food on his kitchen counter and began taking it out of the bag.

“Well there’s only a week left until the trip and I was thinking that you don’t really know a lot about my family and that you should probably go in having some idea of who is who”

She said it confidently enough that she hopes Jake didn’t pick up on the nervousness radiating off her, Amy was not enjoying having her personal and professional lives become so much more intertwined.

“Hm okay then, makes sense I guess. Where’s the binder?”

Jake asked her as they both walk to the couch with their food, Amy also holding her binder. The binder has her family tree and descriptions of who everyone is and where they are in their lives. Whilst Amy is nervous she’s also lucky to be able to share her family – the people who mean the world to her – with someone else important to her.

“So in here I have a family tree and at least a page dedicated to everyone. Its only my brothers and parents coming on this trip so you won’t have to remember any extended family but some of my brothers have kids so that’s why I’ve included a family tree”

As she explained she started to feel guilty seeing the slightly worried look on Jake’s face. She then quickly went to reassure him that he didn’t need to remember all of it.

“Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to memorise the whole binder or anything but just become familiar with names and faces, I don’t want to go in completely unprepared”

Jake visibly relaxed at this. He started to flip through pages of the binder slowly, he was not about to go ruining the binder that Amy clearly worked very hard on. Jake would annoy Amy, but he knew the limits, and limits were her precious binders.

“This is a lot of information Ames, but you’ve forgotten something”

The look of horror that appears on Amy’s face made Jake feel very satisfied with himself.

“No no no no that isn’t possible, I put everything in the binder and I couldn’t have forgotten anything”

Her sentence was full of shock and terror and Jake suddenly felt guilty about worrying her so much.

“Don’t worry Ames, its nothing in the binder. Trust me that is more information than I’ll ever need about your family. What I meant is that we need to have a backstory of how we ya know, got together because if we start telling contradicting stories they could catch on”

Amy sighed in relief, realising that her binder is perfect, and that Jake just knew exactly which buttons to push to annoy her. But she was even more annoyed that Jake was right and had thought of something she completely brushed over.

“Yes you’re right, we need to get our story straight. Do you have any ideas?

“Well, it’ll be easier for you the simpler we make the lie”

Amy hit Jake on the shoulder for this comment while he laughed, then continued with his idea.

“We begin with how we got together, hm… Lets say you asked me out, we went on a date to a nice restaurant and have been together ever since. Easy enough?”

“Ugh yes, simple enough. Now, we have to have been together long enough to justify meeting the parents…hm.. five months?”

“Cool, we shouldn’t need any more information than that but if I think of something else I’ll let you know”

Amy nods with a smile on her face and goes about eating her dinner, while Jake wolfs his down at a worrying speed. They watch some episodes of Serve and Protect while making enough silly jokes that half the time they’re not even paying attention to what is happening in the show. Amy is smiling enough that her cheeks hurt, but she doesn’t mind because she really is that happy being here with Jake.

Suddenly Amy realises how late it is and they both have work tomorrow. Jake pleads with Amy for her to stay a little while longer.

“Aw come on Ames, its not even that late”

“Sorry but I gotta go, I’ll see you tomorrow though”

She tells him sternly but apologetically, she can’t let her feelings get in the way tonight.

“Okay then”

Jake has the most dramatically sad look on his face that Amy has ever seen in her life and it makes her feel even worse that she has to leave, because she doesn’t want to. What she really wants to stay and cuddle up with him on the couch and go to bed together so he can keep her warm and play with her hair to ease her nerves. But those were messy feelings that she had to push away for this ruse to work, she tried her best to push them away.

They say goodbye and goodnight and Amy starts to make her way back to her apartment. That night she lies in her bed that feels to big and too empty, thinking about what it would be like if Jake was here with her, deciding that she’s too tired to push the thoughts away anymore. Amy didn’t know that Jake was doing the exact same, how he wanted her to stay so badly. How he asked himself for what felt like the millionth time why she said his name and chose him. She didn’t know how Jake was also pushing away messy feelings of longing, knowing how he was always happy around her, how he wanted her, and refusing to put a name to the feelings because then they became too real.

-

Jake wouldn’t admit to anyone how many times he read through the binder and how hard he tried to remember as much as he possibly could. He would quiz himself when in his apartment, he liked Amy Santiago so much that he was quizzing himself. Jake genuinely wanted to impress Amy’s family, particularly her parents, knowing how much this means to her. More than anything, he wanted Amy to be happy.

-

The week leading up to the trip Jake got increasingly more excited, whilst Amy got increasingly more anxious. Jake was mainly excited about Disneyland but if it made him happy then Amy wasn’t going to rain on his parade. He was getting excited despite the giant and beautiful binder she gave him. Jake wouldn’t tell anyone that he was also eager just to spend more time with Amy. If they were alone somewhere in the precinct Jake would jump at the chance to tell Amy what rides he had googled that they needed to go on when they were at Disneyland.

“We HAVE to go on Space Mountain, Ames! Its pretty much a crime to go to Disneyland and NOT go on Space Mountain.

He is so enthusiastic and waving his hands around to emphasise his point further. He had the same tone that she knew hew nieces and nephews would have telling her brothers about the rides they want to go on.

“Yes of course we can go on Space Mountain. You sure its not too scary for you?”

She’d ask him that every single time to tease him, knowing he wouldn’t go on a ride he thought was too big or scary.

“I’m fine Amy, I’m not a child, I can handle being in the dark for the duration of a small roller coaster ride”

As Jake spoke he sounded like he was trying to convince himself that he’d enjoy it and wouldn’t be scared, Amy thinks he liked the idea of rides but not actually going on the rides.

The day before they were due to leave Jake was annoying Amy about something else to do with Disneyland. Amy doesn’t know why but he is convinced it will be the best trip of his life despite her crazy family also being there.

“Please Ames I wanna make this the best trip ever-“

As Amy was about to roll her eyes she noticed Charles walking into the bullpen and took action to stop Jake talking immediately.

“Good morning Boyle!”

She almost yelled as her eyes went wide and when Jake realised his went wide too for a moment before he collected himself. Amy prayed that Charles didn’t hear what they were saying. Charles said hello back and both Amy and Jake internally sighed in relief.

“Morning Charles!”

When Charles was in the break room later that day and out of ear shot Amy leaned over her desk and decided to quietly scold Jake for becoming reckless.

“You’ve gotta shut up, today was way too close of a call and with Charles of all people. No more LA discussion until tomorrow”

She was whispering as angrily as she could.

“Okay sorry. Just know that I will annoy the hell out of you tomorrow with all the things that I would’ve said today”

His apology was sincere, but the rest of his sentence only had the intention to annoy Amy, he made that very clear. She rolled her eyes and looked down at her desk to get back to work in an effort to hide the smile forming on her face.

Once again, pushing down her messy feelings for Jake, knowing it would just make all of this so much more complicated and confusing than it already was. She wishes it were real, that he was meeting her parents as a real boyfriend and not a fake one. She wished that tonight she could go to his apartment and he’d calm her nerves and hold her. But it isn’t real, and it can’t be because they work together and Jake her friend. Her best friend, and why would she ruin that for a relationship that might fail. Amy’s biggest fear is failure, and the failure of the relationship and losing a friend because of it. She wanted to run from all of the thoughts and feeling but they followed her wherever she went.

Terry, Jake and Charles all tell her to have a fun trip before she leaves the precinct that day. They also tell Jake not to hurt himself moving furniture.

“Hurt myself? Look at these guns, I couldn’t possibly hurt myself”

He attempts to show off his non-existent muscles.

“By the looks of those guns you shouldn’t need help but if you do you’re welcome to give me a call”

Terry generously offered his help, which Jake definitely won’t need unless he wants emotional support due to all of his emotions. They all laugh and Jake and Amy leave for their five day lie to LA.

-

** _The Night Before_ **

Amy is lying in bed, unable to sleep and unable to think about anything except how tense she feels about introducing Jake to her parents as her boyfriend. Those thoughts once again lead her to thinking about how much she wants him, fantasising about what a relationship would really be like. She decides she needs to vent her thoughts to someone, but the only person who knows what’s happening is Jake. It being late at night she thinks it’s a good idea and texts Jake. But more about the nervousness that her family will see through their lie and not about how she wants him in her bed to do “activities” of sorts.

**Amy: ** _I’m really nervous about tomorrow, what if they see through the lie and everything fails?_

His response comes almost immediately, clearly being up and already on his phone which doesn’t surprise Amy at all.

**Jake: ** _its gonna be fine ames  
_ **Jake: ** _trust me it will be all chiiiilllll *smile face with sunglasses emoji*_

The lack of grammar makes Amy cringe but also smile because its so Jake.

**Amy: ** _Yes, because lying to my whole family is very chill, Jake_

Amy knows he’ll recognise the sarcasm even through text.

**Jake: ** _exactly!_  
**Jake: ** _its gonna be a busy couple of days and they will love me so much your fam wont try to call us out_  
**Jake: ** _I promise_  
**Jake: ** _its gonna be alright ames, just worry about having a good time and hanging out with your best friend  
_ **Jake: ** _your best friend is me btw_

Amy is sure that instead of full stops he just sends multiple texts and rolls her eyes but giggles at him saying he was her best friend. Somehow Jake always seems to know how to calm Amy down from a spiral, as much as he likes to tease her and wind her up, he knows her limits.

**Amy: ** _I guess you’re right, I’ll just focus on having a good time. Thanks Jake _ _😊 _

She begrudgingly included an emoji because she knows Jake would love it and its repayment for helping her calm down. Jake responded immediately.

**Jake: ** _THE AMY SANTIAGO SAID THAT I WAS RIGHT AND USED AN EMOJI IN THE SAME TEXT IM SCREENSHOTTING THIS AND FRAMING IT_

Amy rolls her eyes once again and doesn’t worry about responding, deciding that it was late and she needed sleep before the big day tomorrow. She fell asleep to thoughts of Jake and how he is right in saying that she gets to spend four whole days hanging out with her best friend, and that she should just focus on having fun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vacation time bitches!  
Day 1 lets go!

** _Day 1_ **

Amy double and triple checks that she has everything packed, consulting her list each time. She double and triple checks that she’s taken food out of her fridge and turned off all the outlets. She does this to fill time and calm her anxiety. As she’s about to start checking everything again she gets a notification that the uber has arrived, she leaves and makes her way to the car.

Luckily the ride to Jake’s is quick and the driver isn’t interested in small talk, that is the last thing Amy needed right now. They pull up and Jake was already waiting on the steps with his bag next to him playing on his phone. He smiles and puts his phone in his pocket when he sees that Amy has rolled the window down.

“Hey hey, ready for the best vacation ever?”

“Yes I am, I’ve got everything I need and a printed copy of the itinerary as well as a copy on my phone so we should be good for staying on schedule”

She answers as the driver pulls away from the curb.

“Ah yes of course I should have figured that there would be a strict schedule for a Santiago family vacation”

He says it with a small smile, Jake did expect a schedule because that is who Amy is, and he loves it.

She rolls her eyes in response but smiles back as well. Afterwards she thinks that it will be a fun few days simply because Jake will be there with her, and she always has a good time with Jake. They spend the rest of the car ride in comfortable silence, Amy checking the flight information multiple times and Jake playing Kwazy Cupcakes and subtly admiring how many times Amy has checked when their flight leaves.

They arrive at the airport and thank the driver. After going through security and reaching their gate without any troubles they wait and chat about cases and the weird activities Hitchcock and Scully get up to at their desks. Both Jake and Amy were content, they were just spending time together as friends, laughing and making jokes and they couldn’t be happier.

As they took their seats on the plane Jake pulled out his iPad to watch movies on, while Amy started to get extremely anxious and scared, the thought of six hours in the sky in this giant metal tube began to freak her out. The anxiety wasn’t getting any better no matter how much she tried to argue with herself and she was on the verge of an attack when the plane started moving, somehow Jake seemed to notice – perhaps it was because Amy was clenching her fists so hard her knuckles were white – he took his headphones out and looked over at her incredibly concerned.

“Ames, are you okay?”

Amy was staring straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of her and the most she could do to respond was shake her head, fearing that if she started talking she’d have a meltdown in the middle of the plane. Jake looked over to her properly, hoping she’d look back so he could help her get through the anxiety.

“Everything is going to be alright, just listen to me and we’ll get through this”

Amy nodded. Jake picked up one of her hands and started to rub circles into the back of it to get it to relax, once she had he held her hand and squeezed lightly.

Amy felt herself calm down a level at his touch, somehow, he seemed to make everything better and easier to manage. He seemed to be able to calm her even when at her worst and her thoughts are attacking her.

“Can you breathe with me?”

She nodded again, looking at him this time.

“Alright, we’ll breathe in for five seconds and then out for five seconds and repeat”

“Okay”

Amy managed to squeak out a response this time and started following Jake in breathing. With each breath in and each one out he’d trace a circle into the back of her hand and after a couple of minutes she had calm down considerably. In that time they had taken off and started to climb.

Jake kept holding her hand to keep her grounded – even though they were thousands of feet up in the sky – until an hour into the flight when Amy decides she’s going to sleep for a while and curls up with her head against the window, using Jake’s jacket as a pillow.

-

Amy wakes up some hours later to the captain announcing to everyone that the seatbelt sign has been turned back on. She notices she isn’t leaning against the window anymore, but she has her head leaning on Jake’s shoulder. Jake also seems to be waking up from this announcement, but Amy wishes she could stay here forever, because apparently around Jake she goes back to acting like it’s a middle school crush.

They both sit up slowly at the same time, Jake is looking over and smiling softly at Amy, it’s a smile that makes her blush. He pulls out his iPad again to watch a movie for the remainder of the flight and offers a headphone to Amy, she knows that he’s going to watch Die Hard so she declines, preferring to listen to music. After an hour of Jake watching Die Hard in awe and Amy reading a book the pilot announced that they have started their decent and suddenly Amy stops reading as her eyes go wide in realisation.

She starts taking in short breaths, as if she isn’t getting enough oxygen, feeling the anxiety crawling up inside her again. She looks over at Jake to find he’s already looking at her with concern, for once Die Hard isn’t the most important thing on his mind. He mouths the words ‘its okay’ to her and grabs her hand. It works almost instantly as Amy breathing slowly returns to normal, she still feels the anxiety but is handling it better. As the plane begins going down steeper and approaching the runway, Jake puts the tablet and headphones away, and after helping Amy put her things away, he holds her hand with both of his hands.

“Ready to breathe, close your eyes and focus on the breathing. I’m right here so just listen to my voice, okay Ames”

They do the breathing together and the next thing she knows is they’ve landed and are taxying to the gate. Amy sighs in relief and Jake lets go of her hand, she wouldn’t admit that she was disappointed he let go.

They get off the plane and collect their bags from the carousel without any problems, and Jake doesn’t bring up Amy’s anxiety on the plane which she doesn’t mind as she’d rather not talk about it right now. They walk out of the doors of the airport and take a cab to the hotel. Their hotel is located conveniently near the beach with an amazing view. As they go check in Amy asks if she can change her room.

“Hi, I have a room booked with a king bed but I was wondering if I’m able to change it to a room with two singles?”

“Sorry ma’am but we don’t have any available, the only thing I’m able to do is put you in two separate rooms for an extra charge unfortunately”

The lady says apologetically, obviously knowing how annoyed people are by ‘extra charges’, and Amy starts to worry about having to pay for another room when the first one already cost her a decent amount of savings.

“Don’t worry about it Ames, I’ll pay for another room”

Jake offers generously, albeit slightly disappointed. Amy jumps in immediately as she also doesn’t like the thought of staying in separate rooms for multiple reasons.

“Oh uh no that’s okay, you’re in crushing debt remember. And also my family will get suspicious if they see us going to separate floors or rooms. We’ll just share, we’re adults and its only a few nights”

Amy tries to say this in a way that makes it sound like there’s no other option and that she isn’t at all excited about sharing a room. Jake shrugs and agrees, also trying not to seem too eager at sharing a room AND bed, they’re friends and Amy doesn’t like him like that anymore. It has been so long therefore he needs to push away his feelings for her and act like an adult about the situation, which he hates doing.

Amy takes the key cards and as they walk towards the elevator gives one to Jake and prays he doesn’t lose it. As they’re waiting for the elevator and chatting, Amy hears her name being shouted from across the lobby. She pauses mid-sentence to look over and see her younger brother was the one yelling out to her, standing with his girlfriend and waving at Amy as he walked towards her.

Amy looks at Jake and takes a deep breath in, ready for the first trial of their lie. They subtly nod at one another as they would usually do before storming into a perps apartment or a drug warehouse, this was incredibly more nerve wracking than both of those scenarios.

“Hey Ant, Rebecca, how are you guys?”

Amy greets them with a big smile and hugs them both. Upon hearing their names Jake quickly tries to remember as much information about them as he can that was in the binder. ‘Ant’ is the nickname of Amy’s youngest brother, his real name being Anthony. He and his girlfriend have been together for 3 years and the rest of the family is sure they’ll be engaged soon. Jake is proud of himself for remembering that much, and he’s sure Amy would be proud of him too. He questions that maybe he should prepare for things all the time, but that’d be too much work.

“We’re doing great! Mom said that Luis, Isaac and Raf are taking the kids to the pool so everyone will probably be there. We’ve only just arrived so we’ll be down soon” Anthony told Amy with a wide smile “And this must be the boyfriend I’ve heard about!”

This was it, the moment Amy had prepared for.

“Uh yes this is my boyfriend Jake, we’re together, its real cool”

Amy said in the most uncool way possible. Jake smiles at her and takes over speaking for obvious reasons.

“Yep I’m Jake. Its great to finally meet you guys, I’ve heard so much about you all. You’re Anthony, right?”

He goes to give Anthony a handshake, but Anthony denies it instead going in for a hug. It makes Amy’s heart flutter that Ant accepted Jake so quickly.

“And this is my girlfriend Rebecca”

“Nice to meet you”

Jake is smiling wide, the one that makes Amy blush. The elevator doors ding and open so all four of them walk in. On the way up they talk about how excited they are for the trip, as Anthony and Rebecca leave two floors before Jake and Amy he says that they’ll meet Jake and Amy at the pool. When the doors close Jake speaks up.

“Dude you gotta chill out otherwise they will think something is up”

“What do you mean, I was chill as heck…dude”

“Yep you sure were ‘we’re together, its real cool’”

Jake mocks her voice as he finishes his sentence.

“Ugh firstly I do NOT sound like that and second… I’ll try and chill out more”

“Cool. We’re here”

They arrive at the floor of their room and reading the numbers on the doors finally make it. As they walk into the room Amy puts her suitcase on the bed and starts to unpack and put her clothes in the cupboard and drawers, toiletries in the bathroom. Jake unpacks by throwing his bag on the chair in the corner of the room, plugging in his phone charger and sitting on the bed scrolling through twitter.

“Wanna get ready to go to the pool?”

Jake asks as Amy is finishing her unpacking, even though it’s a four day trip she still insists on unpacking her things.

“Sure, is it alright if I take the bathroom?”

“Of course” Jake said with a sweet smile “Be quick though, I’m pumped to check out the pool”

Amy gets her swimsuit out of her suitcase as well as a dress to put over it, she doesn’t plan on swimming but figures she’ll put her swimsuit on just in case. She changes and ties her hair up, then yells out to make sure Jake is ready to go. Amy puts their towels in a tote bag and they make their way down to the hotel pool.

During the whole elevator ride Amy started getting increasingly nervous about Jake meeting more of her brothers. She hoped that only a few of them were down there and that not everyone is here yet. Luckily, when looking through the glass door to the pool she sees that only three of her brothers are here so far and she internally sighs in relief.

“Okay so it seems that Luis, Isaac and Raf are here with their kids. So I’ll quickly recap because I don’t know how much of the binder you actually would’ve remembered; Luis, he’s the third oldest, married to Grace and they have a son, Dylan. Isaac – second oldest – and his wife Ellie have two kids, Isabella and Daniel. Lastly is Raf, the oldest, he’s married-“

“TO Naomi and they also have two kids, Miguel who is 4 and Maria who is 5. Ames, don’t worry, I did actually read the binder and actively tried to remember as much as I could”

Jake cut her off knowing that if he didn’t she would just keep talking because that’s what Amy did when she was nervous. He smiled at her reassuringly, saying without speaking that everything will be fine, she smiled back as they walked through the door to the indoor pool.

It was a large room with walls made up of almost entirely windows, with doors that lead to changing rooms over in one corner. She saw that her brothers had set up their things on a couple of loungers by the side of the pool, they were still getting some of the kids ready to get in the pool. Jake grabs Amy’s hand as they’re walking and suddenly all Amy can focus on is his hand in hers, sure he held it earlier, but this felt different. Despite the nervousness a small smile spread across her face and she felt herself blushing.

“Hey guys, Amy’s here!”

Isaac yelled to the group, there’s a chorus of hellos and small cheers from the children. Amy wasn’t the most fun aunt ever, but she would read them books with fairy tales in them which they could never get enough of. She also gave them a lot of as much chocolate whenever she saw them so they loved her for that reason too.

“Hi guys!” Amy said with a big smile “This is my uh boyfriend, Jake”

She told the group as she gestured to Jake with her free hand.

“Hey guys, I’ve heard so much about everyone so I’m real pumped for this trip and to finally meet everyone”

Jake had on his signature charming smile, a smile that makes it hard for someone to dislike him (except for a criminal being arrested of course). All three of Amy’s brothers come up to hug him and introduce themselves and their families. This time Luis speaks up.

“Well then, now that we’ve done introductions shall we jump in the pool for a bit, want to get in some fun time before dinner tonight”

All the kids cheer in agreement, clearly very eager to go swimming.

“I’m gonna go in, you coming?”

Jake asks Amy as he takes off his shirt and shoes and Amy tries not to stare or think about how he’d look if he didn’t stop at just his shirt.

“Nah I’ll sit with the girls for a little bit if that’s alright”

She takes a seat on one of the chairs and smiles up at him. He nods and smiles back. Jake puts his hand on Amy’s shoulder and squeezes it, he then does something Amy couldn’t have ever imagines would happen, he leans down and kisses her forehead. It was quick and light, but since that moment Amy couldn’t get it out of her mind. Jake had kissed her, sort of. She watches as he goes to the shallow end of the pool to play with the kids, he’s always been good with kids. He splashes them and makes them laugh, while simultaneously chatting and getting along with her brothers. Amy couldn’t be more relieved knowing that her family have accepted Jake so easily, it warms her heart. She wouldn’t tell anyone but Amy never wanted this moment to end.

Then it hit her again that this whole thing is fake, that she’s not actually Jake’s girlfriend, they’re pretending so Amy didn’t have to go on this trip alone and because she made a stupid mistake. She thought about how when they get back to New York that everything will go back to Jake and Amy being just friends while Amy longs for more knowing she’ll never get it. He moved on because she was stupid and scared, and now Amy and her feelings were left behind.

Amy needed to distract herself from her thoughts and tries to join in on the conversation Grace, Ellie and Naomi were having. They were exchanging funny stories about the kids, they’d grown up so much since Amy last saw them which granted wasn’t too long ago but long enough for her to realise, she missed seeing them. Amy will always have that never-ending love for her family.

After 45 minutes Ellie realises that they need to start getting ready for dinner. So with sad looks on their faces and feet dragging on the ground the kids begrudgingly get out of the pool and start drying off, Amy and Jake helping when they can. Once Jake has dried off, Amy tries to hide the disappointment when he puts his shirt back on, and she once again pushes back the thoughts of Jake without a shirt and without other items of clothing. They all wave goodbye and leave for their room.

In the elevator Jake couldn’t stop talking about how great Amy’s nieces and nephews are and how much fun he’s had already when they’ve been in LA barely a couple of hours. Amy is practically glowing with happiness, nothing makes her feel better than seeing Jake happy. Even more so now that he’s talking about her family, she pushes the negative thoughts away for now.

They get into their room and Jake goes to have a shower while Amy chooses which dress she’ll wear to dinner. She decides on a simple body-hugging red dress, it reaches her mid-thigh and has a ruffle around the hemline, matching ruffle going over the shoulders. Its one of her favourite dresses, it flatters her well and feels sexy while also being family appropriate. She pairs the dress with some strappy black hells and thinks that it’ll be fancy enough.

As she finishes getting everything she needs Jake exits the bathroom wearing one of the robes provided by the hotel and Amy shouldn’t have expected anything else.

“Okay so how dressy is this restaurant, how fancy do I gotta get?”

He asks Amy because he is definitely not confident enough to pick out his own outfit for meeting Amy’s parents.

“Shirt, jacket and slacks. Assuming you actually brought all of that”

She had a smirk, knowing he did bring all of that because he isn’t stupid, but it will always be fun to annoy him. He scoffs at her.

“Of course I did because I’m mature” Amy snorts at this “Now hurry up and get ready… you wouldn’t wanna be late now would you?”

He responds with his own shit eating grin that simultaneously annoys Amy and makes her fall for him even more. Jake somehow knows exactly how to push all of her buttons and it infuriates her.

Amy rolls her eyes, picks up her outfit and makes her way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the most nerve-wracking dinner of her life. At least Jake didn’t have to meet the entire family at once, that would have been more daunting than any undercover mission. She showers, puts her dress on and does her hair and makeup.

As she walks out of the bathroom, she sees Jake all dressed up and buttoning up his jacket in the mirror when he notices Amy walk out. Amy could’ve sworn for a second she saw his jaw drop and his eyes widen before he quickly composed himself.

“You look beautiful Ames”

He had a slight blush on his cheeks, Amy also blushed at the compliment.

“Aw thanks, you clean up pretty nice too”

“Thanks!” Jake said with a big grin “You ready to go?”

Jake asks knowing that she’s dressed and ready to go, but he is more asking if she is mentally ready for this whole situation without explicitly asking her.

“Yep, lets go” Amy smiled, trying to remain confident.

They make their way to the elevator and as the doors open Jake offers his arm to Amy and she holds on, she tries to hide another blush because as annoying as he can be Jake is being incredibly sweet. Whenever she is with Jake she can’t help but be filled with a satisfaction, feeling like she is complete when he’s there making fun of her or bringing her a coffee when she didn’t know she needed one Amy can’t help but want her whole life to be like that, not just at work. Her problems fade away when he makes her laugh, nothing else in the world matters except for Jake and how happy Amy is with him.

Her family have started to gather in the hotel lobby, getting ready to walk together a block over to the restaurant they’ll be eating at. Jake and Amy approach the group which consist of her younger brothers and their partners, and her parents. This is the moment it happens, Jake meets her parents and they have to fully go through with this lie. She’s wanted Jake to meet her parents but Amy was hoping it’d be as her real boyfriend, not a fake one who she’ll “break up” with when they get home. Jake looks over at Amy and she looks at him, they give each other their nod that signals they’re ready to go, a habit they developed not long after they’d been partners in the field.

They approach the group, arm in arm, and Amy greets her brothers Diego, Carlos and Tony. Jake quickly tries to remember what he can about each of them – they’re all her younger brothers, Tony’s wife Charlotte is pregnant with their first, the other two aren’t married yet but have steady girlfriends. That’s the most Jake can think of right now which isn’t much he’s still very proud of himself, Amy would be too if she knew.

“Guys this is my boyfriend, Jake. I’m sure mom told you all about him. Jake, this is Diego, Carlos and Tony”

“Hey its nice to finally meet you all, Amy’s told me a lot about you guys”

Jake wears his signature charming smile as he goes and individually shakes everyone’s hand. Amy can tell immediately that they really like him as they’re all smiles and haven’t tried to intimidate him yet.

“Yeah it’s about time Amy got a boyfriend. Mom has definitely told us a lot about you, or as much as she knows since you refused to answer any of her questions”

Carlos says to Jake but looks at Amy as he finishes, giving her a look that tells her Camila is not happy with the limited information she has about Jake.

“Ugh shut up, and I think I am about to pay for that right now”

Amy says because as if on cue her mother shows up and immediately gives Jake a bone crushing hug. Amy is slightly offended but knows she deserves it for not answering some of her moms calls.

“You must be Jake, it is wonderful to meet you and I’d love to get to know you” She has a giant smile on her face but turns to Amy and frowns “Because someone didn’t want to tell me anything even though I am her mother”

Great, Amy thinks, the guilt trip has begun.

“Hi Mrs Santiago, its great to finally meet you too”

The charming smile is on and her mom clearly loves it. Amy is so happy that her mom has already taken to Jake, her mom decides almost immediately upon meeting someone if she loves them or never wants to see them again, and there is no in between. So the fact that she hugged Jake is great, and even more so that she hugged Jake before even saying hello to Amy.

“Hi mom, sorry again, its good to see you”

Amy is wary but also knows her mom could never stay mad at her, being the only daughter has its perks.

“That’s alright, I was beginning to think Jake wasn’t real, so this is a wonderful surprise”

Jake lights up and laughs at this.

“Well I’m very happy to be able to come along, I also have so many questions about what Amy was like as a kid”

He laughs and Amy’s mom laughs along with him while Amy is dreading what kind of embarrassing stories her mom will tell Jake, which is all just more ammunition for him.

“Wonderful! I’ve always wanted to tell some embarrassing stories about her for once, instead of always telling ones about the boys to their girlfriends.”

“Thanks mom, I think that’s enough of that, maybe go say hi to the boys and we can chat later”

Camila walks away smiling, clearly happy about Amy finally having a boyfriend and that he’s actually real. Her dad is outside having a cigarette before they leave so Jake will meet him when he’s finished.

“Oh, I absolutely cannot wait to hear embarrassing stories about you”

“Great, I’m sure you’ll be really mature and won’t make fun of me for them as well”

“That is so untrue as I will never ever let you forget every embarrassing thing that has happened to you”

Jake is smirking while Amy sighs and squeezes her eyes shut as if she’s in pain. After Jake has had his fun annoying Amy, her dad walks inside. Amy suddenly freezes up and starts to get really anxious, impressing her mom is one thing, but impressing her dad is on a whole other level. Being the only daughter has its perks, but also the downsides in that her dad can be protective of whoever Amy dates. So far, he’s only liked one other guy she brought to meet her parents so there is definitely a high bar. Jake seemed to immediately realise and held Amy’s hand while looking her in the eye.

“It’s gonna be fine”

He whispered to her, she half believed it. Jake is great and amazing, and she doesn’t need her fathers approval to date someone, but if her dad isn’t fond of Jake she’ll be hurt - his opinion means so much to her. He makes his way towards them both and goes to greet Amy first, he gives her a tight hug that she remembers from her childhood and it always makes Amy feel safe and warm.

“Hello, sweetheart, how are you?”

“Hi dad, I’m good. How are you doing?”

“Wonderful now that I get to see you all together again”

They pull away from the hug and Jake seems slightly awkward standing to the side while Amy and her dad have their moment.

“Uh dad, this is my boyfriend, Jake”

She puts her hand on Jakes shoulder to calm him, this may all be fake but its still a nerve wracking experience and Amy knows Jake is freaking out underneath his calm and collected attitude.

“Hi sir, its great to finally meet you, I’ve heard a lot of great things about you”

“Hello, its good to meet you too. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard much about you” He looks over at Amy the same way her mother did but with a softer expression this time “but I’m looking forward to getting to know more.”

They shake hands as they say this and Amy calms a little bit now that the worst part is over. Victor looks over to Amy’s mom and asks if they should all leave for the restaurant, she nods and all the Santiago’s make their way out.

At dinner they’re seated at a long table, Jake and Amy are seated near Diego, Carlos, Tony and their partners. Jake and Amy’s brothers make conversation about basketball and silly inside jokes whilst Amy chats with Kate, Melissa and Charlotte about work until they start asking questions about Jake.

“So when did you and Jake meet?” Melissa asked eagerly.

Amy had prepared herself for questions and she was willing to answer them, everything would be the truth - except for the one small lie they were telling.

“About 5 years ago, I had just become a detective and was moved to the precinct where Jake was also a detective and we ended up being partnered together.”

She has a nostalgic smile recounting when she first met Jake, back then to her he was annoying, messy and wouldn’t shut up about Die Hard. She couldn’t have ever imagined back then that she’d end up loving all of that and having feelings for him.

“Aw that’s so cute. How long have you actually been together and why haven’t we heard about him before?” Charlotte was up with the second question immediately after.

“We’ve only been together four months but we both see it going somewhere really. I didn’t want to tell mom too soon because she can get a bit obsessive but trust me when I say she made me feel bad about it”

They all laugh. Amy managed to get through that with no issues at all, she’s honestly proud of herself for lying so well, when she tells Jake she is sure he’ll be proud too.

“You two just seem perfect for each other, honestly, Jake sounds great” Melissa adds in with a dreamy look on her face, admiring the young love. “What is he like?”

“Uh well, Jake is…” Amy trailed off, unsure of how to continue, when she finally found the words part of her hoped that Jake didn’t hear. “Jake is awesome, he’s super funny and always able to make laugh even if I feel awful. He is one of the best detectives I’ve ever met. He can balance me out, he knows exactly how to calm me down and always knows if I need something, even if its just a cup of coffee, ya know? We are so different, but I love that about us because I don’t know what I’d do without him at this point”

Amy was looking at a plate across the table from her the whole time instead of looking any one person in the eye. She felt Jakes hand touch her knee, at this she looked up at the three girls who seemed to be completely enamoured by Amy’s words. Amy meant all of them, she wouldn’t know what she’d do without Jake, as annoying and messy he can be she wouldn’t have it any other way. He understands her in a way no one else had, knowing what she needs to hear and when she needs something before she even knows. But she knows the same about him, she knows when he’s about to hit a wall in a case and gives him what he needs to keep going. She makes sure to clean old food off his desk because as messy as he is, he doesn’t like losing his stuff, not that he’d ever admit it. Amy has a playlist with Taylor Swift on it for when they are on a stakeout together, because whilst Jake would deny it, he loves Taylor Swift.

“Awww gross, that is so cute” Kate pipes up after Amy’s mini speech “I feel that way about Diego, even if he’s suuuper messy sometimes ugh”

The girls giggle and Amy joins in because she knows how her brother can be. After that they all seem to move on from them asking questions about Jake, it seems Amy’s answers were heartfelt enough for them to be satisfied. After dinner they walk back to the hotel and all make their way to their respective rooms. Jake gets changed into his pyjamas whilst Amy washes off her makeup and gets changed in the bathroom. They climb into bed and after a few minutes Jake whispers something to Amy.

“Hey Ames, did you uh mean what you said in the restaurant tonight?”

“Um what do you mean?”

Amy tried to play coy, wanting to know how much Jake heard of what she told the other girls.

“Uh when you said that you didn’t know what you’d do without me”

“Oh that, yeah uh… I did, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Charlotte asked me what you were like and so yeah, I answered her”

“Hm, okay then, I was just wondering”

There was silence for a while and as Amy was just about to drift into dream land, she heard Jake whisper again.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you either”

He whispered even quieter this time, perhaps he didn’t want Amy to hear him and thought she was asleep. Amy goes to sleep thinking about what she said and what Jake said, all the things that were said and how much of it was real.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2 and 3!  
In the thick of pretending now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give each day its own chapter buuut felt that these weren't long enough on their own to justify it so they've been smushed together (hehe). Thanks if you've made it this far <3

** _Day 2_ **

Amy wakes up to her alarm blaring. The Santiago’s decided it’d be a good idea to wake up extra early to go to Disneyland and Amy is beginning to question whether its worth it, she didn’t sleep well last night, her brain kept her up with thoughts of Jake, him sleeping beside her and the things they said last night that felt too real to be “fake dating”. She realises as she wakes up from her restless sleep that Jake has his arm lying across her stomach, Amy doesn’t want to move because his touch is warm and it radiates through her. As she looks up she can see him facing her and his brow furrowing at being crudely woken up, she rolls over and slides to the edge of the bed to turn the alarm off (despite how cute she thinks he looks with that half asleep face).

As she turns back to face him she sees he has one eye open and one still closed, its unbelievably cute but Amy isn’t allowed to think those things about Jake.

“Good morning sleepy”

“What time is it?”

Jake asked while slowly opening his other eye.

“Its 7:30, we’ve gotta get up and get ready”

Amy’s trying not to smile too much at Jake’s half-asleep state.

“Whyyy”

“One word; Disneyland”

Amy told him with a devious smile knowing that the reminder of the days activities will prompt him to get up faster. Jake indeed responds by sitting up quickly and gasping in shock.

“Oh my god Ames how did I forget, I’ll be ready in ten”

He jumps up and runs to the bathroom and closes the door behind him. Did Amy stare too much at Jake in his pyjamas? Maybe. Would she admit that to anyone? Never.

She starts to get clothes out of drawers, she decides on the comfiest outfit which is denim shorts, a pair of low top converse, and a grey t-shirt with a small Minnie Mouse printed in the corner. Amy wasn’t a fan of t-shirts but felt that when you go to Disneyland you have to fit in, and fitting in is wearing at least one Disney item of clothing.

She gets dressed and is tying her hair up in a ponytail when Jake walks out of the bathroom wearing jeans and his signature sneakers, its only when Amy is finished tying up her hair that she looks over and realises that her and Jake are wearing the same shirt except his has Mickey instead of Minnie.

“You have GOT to be joking”

Amy rolls her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose.

“What’s wrong? Have I got something on my sh-“

Jake looks down at his shirt as he says this and comes to the same realisation as Amy and he starts giggling.

“Oh my god no way, this is the best”

“Can you please change because this is the comfiest shirt I brought”

Amy pleaded with him, but it was a fruitless effort.

“I bought this shirt specifically for Disneyland and if you think I’m gonna change you’re crazy. Also I think your family will LOVE our matching shirts”

“Fine then. I guess we’re going to Disneyland in matching shirts”

Amy threw her arms up in defeat, whilst Jake looks pleased with himself that he has managed to win an argument with Amy and gets to wear a matching shirt with her.

Amy gets her small across-body bag while Jake shoves his wallet in his pocket, and they leave to meet her brothers and parents in the hotel lobby. They ordered a small minibus to take them to and from Anaheim because they all wanted to travel together, seeing as this IS a family reunion. Jake falls asleep on the way over, his hand holding Amy’s and she decides she’s tired too and follows his lead by leaning her head on his shoulder. She wakes up some time later to Anthony, who was seated behind her, tapping her on the shoulder to tell her that they were five minutes away. Amy taps Jake’s shoulder to wake him up too.

“Hey, gotta wake up, we’re only five minutes away”

She tells him with a smile because there he is, slightly messy hair with the sun shining behind him, Jake looks like he’s glowing and Amy can’t help but stare.

“Yes!”

He yelled out. Now he can’t stop shaking his leg in excitement and it starts to bug Amy, but instead of bickering with him like she’d do at the precinct, she does what she’d do if they were really dating and simply puts her hand on his knee. Jake gets the message and apologises and puts his hand over Amy’s, she smiles back up at him.

Amy starts to think about what her life would be like if she had left Teddy for Jake instead of taking what she thought was the safe option, knowing that she hurt Jake by doing that. Teddy wasn’t safe, he was boring, they could have a conversation and he’d make jokes but they wouldn’t make her laugh like Jake could. Jake could annoy her but not enough to make her angry, they knew each others limits. Amy knew everything about Jake, and he knew everything about her but Amy would herself it was because they’d been partners and friends for so long, but he didn’t have to go to the effort to remember all the small things about her that even Teddy didn’t take the time to remember.

The minibus pulls up outside the entrance and Jake looks like he might explode with excitement, the smile on his face going from ear to ear and Amy smiles just as wide, she loves seeing the people who mean the most to her so happy – also how can you be sad at Disneyland.

They spend all morning together as a group to watch some of the shows and the parade before having lunch, Jake and Amy spend pretty much the whole time holding hands or Jake with his arm around Amy’s shoulders or waist, always keeping her close. It’s a natural feeling that they both fall into so easily. While her brothers may all be adults now, they couldn’t stop giggling like children when they realised Jake and Amy were wearing matching t-shirts.

After lunch they decide to split up so the kids can go on some of the smaller rides while those without kids can check out the bigger rollercoasters. Jake is bouncing up and down on his toes because he has already planned exactly what rides he wants to go on and absolutely cannot wait anymore, if Amy was cruel she’d say she wanted to see another show just to annoy him but honestly she loves how excited Jake looks and can’t say no to that face.

“Space Mountain Ames, it’s THE Space Mountain!”

Jake is halfway between a skip and a run making his way towards the line, he may be holding Amy’s hand but its more like Jake dragging Amy along behind him. They justified holding hands after splitting from the group because what if they run into one of her brothers or her parents unexpectedly and so they must keep holding hands obviously, it’s the only solution.

“I’m coming Jake, my legs can only go so fast”

Amy is laughing as they join the end of the line, Jake starts to talk abut all the secrets behind Disneyland that he researched before the trip and Amy thinks her cheeks are going to start hurting from all the smiling but its hard not to smile when watching Jake talk so passionately.

After waiting a while its finally their turn to ride, the coaster is everything Jake expected plus some and the adrenaline is rushing through them both. They’re laughing and making jokes and its all so easy and amazing. Jake insists that they absolutely have to ride Splash Mountain.

“It’s a crime to come to Disneyland and NOT ride Splash Mountain Ames, I’ll have to arrest you if we don’t go on it”

“I don’t wanna get my clothes all wet and have to hang around in wet clothes all day until we get back to the hotel”

“Ames, the sun in out so we’ll be dry in no time, trust me”

Amy trusts him, and she’s more than happy they went on because the face Jake was making in the ride picture was way too funny not to buy. Overpriced? Yes. Absolutely worth it? No doubt. After Splash Mountain and then adrenaline from the rides wears off Amy realises she needs to take a break, all the walking and standing is making her feet sore. They find a bench to sit down on and as soon as they sit down Jake gets back up and says he’ll be right back.

Jake returns a few minutes later with what she assumes is a drink inside of a Mickey Mouse souvenir cup and then she noticed how thirsty she is after all the excited screaming on the rides. She doesn’t know how he always seems to know, she didn’t even say she needed a drink but somehow he knew. Despite how much Jake can annoy her, Amy knows he cares about her, and she cares about him in the same way.

“Thank you for the drink, I’m guessing there was a choice of a normal cup or a Mickey one and you chose the Mickey cup?”

“Good detective work, I chose the Mickey one because its cute, therefore, reminded me of you”

Amy isn’t going to mention how Jake just indirectly called her cute and thanks him again. They share the drink on the bench while people watching. Amy looks at her watch and sees they still have an hour and a half left before they have to meet up with her family. Her and Jake decide to check out the stores on Main Street, especially since Jake realised that they hadn’t bought any Mickey or Minnie ear headbands which he once again stated was a crime not to do.

They go from store to store but obviously spend the most time trying on all the different types of hats and headbands and laughing with each other. Jake buys a hat with Mickey ears and Amy goes with the classic Minnie headband. After making their purchases, still giggling with each other, Amy checks her watch and sees that they were supposed to meet up ten minutes ago and so now she is the one dragging Jake through the park by the hand, but this time in a mild panic.

“Hi mom, sorry we’re late we got distracted at the store”

Amy tries not to sound completely out of breath.

“That’s okay darling, we’re going to find a spot to watch the fireworks if you’d like to join us”

Jake jumps in and answers before Amy has the chance.

“Oh definitely, can’t miss the fireworks. I’ve heard a good spot is anywhere near It’s a Small World”

Jake was smiling wide at the chance to flaunt his Disney knowledge.

“Oh wonderful”

Amy’s mom responds and soon after they’re all making their way towards It’s a Small World. Throughout the fireworks Jake and Amy hold hands, to keep up the act Amy tells herself once again. Every so often she’d look over at Jake who would always be looking up at the sky smiling in awe at the fireworks, colours flashing against his skin. Whilst Jake was in awe of the fireworks, she was in awe of him. Little did Amy know that whenever she was looking up at the fireworks Jake was looking over at Amy, watching the light dance across her face and couldn’t help but smile and try to memorise this moment as best as he possibly could.

After fireworks they all climb back into the minibus for the journey back. It seems that everyone has started to fall asleep, Amy put her head on Jake’s shoulder so that he had somewhere to lean his head and after doing so became tired herself. Amy thought about the day she just had, how she doesn’t think she’s ever had that much fun and been that happy, and it was because of Jake. Him being there made the trip so much better, whenever he’s around he makes everything better, and that is the last thing Amy remembers thinking before going to sleep.

Jake wakes up first and starts to carefully wake Amy up because they’re almost back at the hotel and he doesn’t want her getting off the bus and back to the room half asleep. Everyone has made their own plans for dinner tonight, Jake and Amy decide they’re both too tired to go out anywhere so they change into their pyjamas and order room service.

They watch Jimmy Fallon and eat their food in bed, but they’re making more jokes and talking more than watching. Jake making Amy laugh so much she has tears in her eyes and her cheeks hurt, she will never get tired of his big goofy grin and infectious laugh.

In the middle of the night Amy briefly wakes up and realises that Jake has his arm around her again and she’s lying against him, she knows that cuddling isn’t something just platonic friends do but she also can’t bring herself to move and falls back asleep in Jake’s arms.

-

Jake wakes up in the middle of the night and notices how close Amy is to him, he doesn’t move and tries to justify it by telling himself that he just doesn’t want to wake her up.

-

** _Day 3_ **

Once again Amy wakes up to her alarm blaring, she begrudgingly slides out from Jake’s arms to turn it off and starts poking Jake in the chest and face to wake him up. He groans loudly in protest.

“No I don’t wanna, we don’t have to be up early today”

“Well I want to have more than enough time to get ready”

“It’s a vacation Ames, another half an hour of beauty sleep isn’t gonna make us late”

Amy rolls her eyes because another half an hour might be cutting it too close.

“I dunno Jake, I don’t wanna be late like yesterd-AH!”

She gets cut off and screams when Jake pulls her arm back down onto the bed suddenly. He wraps his arms around her and Amy doesn’t struggle at all because nothing else except Jake’s arms matter right now.

“See, isn’t this much better”

He starts settling down into the bed again.

“Fine, but I’m setting an alarm for 30 minutes”

Amy sets the alarm and sinks down into the bed. Jake lets out a long breath and she can feel him relax, Amy does the same and they’re both asleep again much quicker than she had expected.

Half an hour later Amy gets out of bed, annoyed at having to get up, and starts getting ready for their beach day. If it were up to her she’d stay in bed all day cuddling Jake, but her family will worry if they don’t show up so she hopes her movements of getting prepared will wake Jake up.

“Ugh fine I’ll get up if I have to”

Jake has the most insane bed hair Amy has ever seen but she can’t help a small giggle. Ten minutes later Jake walks out of the bathroom ready to go, Amy is packing the last of her beach supplied into her tote bag and getting out her flip flops. Jake stands by the door with crossed arms and a smile on his face as Amy double checks that she’s got everything they need.

“Okay, ready to finally go now?”

“Yes, I haven’t forgotten anything and we’re perfectly on time”

Amy breathes a sigh of relief that there were no consequences for their unplanned sleep in. Actually, there were consequences, but only in Amy’s head because she is now more confused than ever about what is between her and Jake. She thought Jake had gotten over Sophia and no longer had feelings for Amy, he loved Sophia and so clearly that meant his feelings for Amy had gone away. But why would he help her like this if that was the case, hold her hand and cuddle her in the middle of the night, buy her a drink at Disneyland even though she promised she’d pay for everything knowing he was in crushing debt. He had said many times before that he was the best friend in the world for doing this, so that much mean he sees Amy as just a friend. Right? She wanted to know without having to ask, because Amy knew that would be risking everything.

They make their way down to the hotel breakfast buffet to get some food before they made the walk to the beach. At the buffet they find some of Amy’s brothers, and not too much longer later everyone else had arrived. Amy was spending her breakfast talking to Kate and Melissa, whilst Jake once again was enthusiastically discussing basketball with Anthony and Carlos. Amy loved how well Jake got along with her family, he fit in so easily and it made her more happy than any Disneyland trip ever could.

When everyone had downed their breakfast and the kids started to get restless there was a unanimous decision that they should make their way to the beach. Luckily, the hotel was very close to the beach, so they only had to walk two blocks to get there. Jake and Amy held hands the entire time, making easy conversation as if walking hand in hand pretending to be a couple was something they did on a regular basis. When they reach the beach, everyone starts setting up their towels and umbrellas.

“Are you gonna read a book or come swim with us?”

Jake asked as he took his shirt off and for the first time in a while, Amy was speechless.

“Oh…um..”

She struggled to pull her eyes away from his bare chest but managed to make eye contact and keep it there.

“Uh I’ll read a chapter and then come swim”

He simply smiled back. As he put sunscreen on his face Amy took off the dress she was wearing over her swimsuit. She wore a dark red one piece that had a low back and cut outs along the side, it was much more revealing that the bathing suit she was originally looking at, but Kylie convinced her to take a risk for once. She knew the risk was worth it when she heard someone gasp, that ‘someone’ being Jake. As Amy turned around she saw Jake frozen and staring at her for a moment before he registered that she was looking back at him and went back to distracting himself with sunscreen. She sat down on her towel and got her book out to read while Jake ran to go play with the kids and her brothers.

Keeping to her work, when she had read a chapter Amy decided to go join Jake and the others in the water. She walks to the edge of the water to get a feel for the temperature, Amy being perpetually cold wanted to make sure she wouldn’t freeze to death despite the sun being completely out.

“Oh come on its not even that cold!”

Jake yells from where he was standing in hip deep water, watching Amy carefully test the water. Amy takes this as a challenge, so she walks in and dives under the water to meet up with Jake, with a smirk on her face.

“Its not that cold at all”

“So you wouldn’t mind if I did this then”

He puts what seems like all his energy into the biggest splash someone could manage. Amy lets out a squeak when the water hits her but quickly psyches herself up and puts on her game face.

“You’re going down Peralta”

They proceed to splash each other for a solid ten minutes until Jake manages to get close enough to Amy to pick her up with his arms wrapped around her waist and spin her around. When he puts her down she pushes him away and then lunges forward with the intention of retaliation, she manages to get her hands on his shoulders to push him down and under the water. To recap; Jake and Amy are wrestling in the ocean, just as friends, and all friends wrestle each other in the ocean.

A while later Amy hears her mom yelling from the edge of the water that its time to get some food and even though her and her brothers are grown up, some of them having their own kids, when Camila Santiago is yelling at you to do something, you goddamn do it.

As Jake and Amy pack up their things and walk back to the hotel they bicker about who won the splash battle. Jake puts his arm around Amy’s shoulders as they walk, she gets lost in his infectious laugh and the short walk feels shorter because she doesn’t want it to end. Near the end of their late afternoon “lunch” Camila and Victor offer to look after the kids so that Amy and her brothers could go out to a bar and have some grown up fun for the night.

All her brothers decide to go except for Tony and Charlotte. Charlotte is pregnant and tired from all the activities, it isn’t too much of a surprise from Tony as he had never been one for partying. Amy and her brothers agree to meet in the lobby in 45 minutes to go to a nearby bar, within walking distance to save money on a cab.

Amy puts on another one of the dresses she brought with her because she didn’t buy them just to sit in her cupboard and she can wear a dress whenever she wants. This dress was very simple, a deep blue, long sleeve dress that stopped just above her knees. The colour complimented her skin perfectly. She kept her hair down and put on minimal makeup tonight, the sun-kissed look was working well for her. She walks out of the bathroom to tell Jake that she’s ready to go, they link arms and walk to the lobby. When they get there Any, Diego and Isaac were already there waiting. There’s idle chat until the last three arrive and they make their way out.

In all honesty, this “bar” was leaning much more towards being a club. The music was too loud and the dancefloor was huge, but Amy didn’t mind, loud music distracted her from her thoughts of Jake. The other girls decided they wanted to start dancing immediately whilst Amy chose to have a beer in a booth by the bar. Jake was talking to Raf about the basketball game (again) when he had noticed Amy sitting by herself and so he went over to keep her company but made a quick trip to the bar first.

“Why did you get shots?”

Amy had to yell over the loud music.

“Because why not!”

Jake had a mischievous smile, because he knew he wasn’t wrong, there really was no reason not to let loose and have some fun.

“We don’t have to get up early tomorrow and we don’t have heaps planned, come on Ames”

“Ugh fine you’re right, give me the shot”

“Woo!”

They down their shots at the same time. An hour passes and the music somehow got louder so Jake and Amy are sat on the same side of the booth talking into each other’s ears when Jake asks Amy if she wants to dance.

“Do you wanna go dance?”

“Sure, why not”

Amy responds with a smile but without thinking, she can’t dance and Jake knows she can’t dance. Why would she say yes? But its too late now as Jake is already grabbing her hand and guiding her to the dance floor.

As they start dancing there is some distance between them, similar to the day Jake got fired and went undercover. Back when things were much different, when there was someone else and feelings were left out to be pondered over for six long months. Amy would admit to missing Jake in those months, but she never knew why until she finally became honest with herself. Each song they get closer and closer, and soon enough they’re pressed against each other, Amy’s arms resting around Jake’s neck and his hands gripping her hips. It takes everything in Amy to not let her mind wander to the feeling of Jake’s hands on her hips, but a couple drinks have her walls come crashing down and she begins to think about so much more. Amy isn’t sure how it happened but as soon as she looked into his eyes a feeling overcame her and she realises Jake must have had that same feeling because before Amy can process it her lips are on his and his are on hers and Amy could swear the world stopped turning. Neither of them knows how long they star there for but when they pull away Amy is out of breath, she looks at him and he has the most adorable awe-stricken smile on his face, Amy is sure her face matches his. He puts his lips right next to her ear and Amy felt her knees go weak.

“Do you wanna go back to the hotel room, because I’d like to do that again, if you’d be up for that”

Amy thought she had melted directly into the floor at that proposition, she can’t deny there has been multiple moments she has imagined what it would be like to finally be with Jake, and every time she’s had to stop herself from thinking that way. This time, she doesn’t have to stop herself or just fantasise, because she is going to actually find out. She nodded very quickly in response to his question and grabbed his hand to drag him out of the club/bar.

It isn’t a long walk between the club and hotel but when they knew what awaited them behind the door of their hotel room it became the longest walk of their lives. They’re almost in a jog by the time they reach the lobby, luckily the elevator arrived quickly and that it was empty since they spent the whole elevator ride making out in the corner. Amy pushed up against the wall, she had already started unbuttoning Jake’s shirt, while he had been running his hand up and down her thigh underneath her dress.

The elevator dings to signal they had reached their floor, they run to the room and Amy quickly unlocks the door, once inside she kicks her shoes off and throws her purse onto the chest of drawers. They start making out by the door when Jake picks Amy up to walk over to the bed, he puts her down and climbs over her.

“Aer you sure you wanna do this?”

He had a look of mild concern on his face, making sure Amy is okay with everything.

“Jake, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life”

She pulls him back down to continue.

Amy could have sworn she died and went to heaven.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Days 4 and 5!  
We got some fluff, we got sweetness, and we got post-smush conversations.

** _Day 4_ **

Amy wakes up slowly, her brain hadn’t caught up and wasn’t thinking properly yet so she was confused as to why she was wearing a basketball jersey in bed, she also registered she wasn’t wearing her pyjama pants which is incredibly unusual. She rubbed her eyes and opened them properly and looked over to see Jake asleep facing her, he had no shirt on, and Amy tried not to stare for too long.

Looking over at Jake made Amy remember what happened and she let out a small gasp, and then a small squeak as her alarm went off suddenly and scared her. She has to get ready for the girls day out and she’s already running late, Amy starts to go into a panic. She notices Jake is starting to stir due to the alarm going so she quietly slides out of bed and locks herself in the bathroom to shower and get ready. Amy spent majority of her shower thinking about what she was going to say to Jake when she left the bathroom, her mind wanders to the events of last night and Amy turns the water cold, so she doesn’t get carried away.

Once she’s dressed, she realised she forgot a pair of socks, meaning she must now exit the bathroom and finally face Jake. She rushes out of the bathroom hunting around in drawers for a pair of socks trying not to make eye contact with Jake. He’s sitting on the corner of the bed mindlessly scrolling through his phone, as Amy exits the bathroom, he puts his phone away deciding that no matter how much he hated talking about his feelings he must do it. As Amy rushes past Jake he grabs onto her wrist to stop her.

“Relax, you’re not going to be late”

Amy looks up to meet his eyes, she lets out a small sigh because she knows he is right. After what seems like an eternity of just eye contact – which was actually only 5 seconds – Jake is the one to break the silence.

“We gotta talk Ames”

“Yeah…we do”

He slides his hand down into Amy’s and she sits down next to him on the bed.

“So uh last night was…well… it happened”

“It did happen”

Amy was getting nervous that this was a one-time thing to Jake, that he was going to tell her that he just wasn’t thinking properly in the loud club after the shots and was now going to try and let Amy down easy because he cares.

“Ames, last night was… it wasn’t a one-time thing to me”

Well that cleared that up.

“But I didn’t come on this trip expecting that, I was totally okay with you wanting us to be just friends, just to clarify” He took a deep breath “I really like you and-“

Jake was cut off by a knocking at their door. Amy ran up to check through the peephole to see her mom standing there.

“Amy you need to hurry up unless you want to be late!”

“Just a minute mom!”

Amy rushed back over to Jake because she needed to hear whatever else he was going to say.

“Okay, go on”

“Well I really like you and I want something more than just friends and just colleagues”

He has a small smile on his face and his eyes are full of hope, and Amy can tell this is hard for him, being so open and honest with so much to lose. Amy wants to get lost in those eyes every day.

“We will leave without you Amelia, get out here now please!”

Camila managed to yell politely but Amy knew it was just because Jake was also in the room and if he weren’t here her mom probably would’ve already knocked the door down.

“Jake I’m so sorry I’ve got to go, she’ll kill me if we’re late. I’ll only be a couple of hours, we can talk when I get back”

Amy said apologetically, wearing a sad smile. She wants nothing more than to finish this conversation but also knows she cannot be late to this spa day which is now an incredibly insignificant thing in her life compared to how her day has been so far.

“Its alright, I understand, you Santiago’s explode if you’re late” He smiles sweetly at her “I’ll play some laser-tag with the guys and we’ll back here later okay”

“I’m sorry, thank you so much”

Amy leaps up and starts making her way to the door, before she leaves she stops in her tracks and turns around to look at Jake. She rushes back over and puts her lips against his, she reaches to grab at his neck whilst his hands find her waist. They pull away and she hugs him tightly, whispering into his chest.

“I really like you too”

She reluctantly pulls away when her mom starts knocking on the door again and walks out with a small wave in Jake’s direction. There was so much Amy wanted to say to him.

-

Amy had never been more stressed while getting pampered at the spa. It was hard to keep up conversation and her mind was racing with what she would say to Jake when she saw him, she thought about what Jake had told her and if there was more that he wanted to say. Jake was her best friend and she didn’t want things to be weird at work, but she regretted all her other relationship decisions that involved not being with Jake. She told herself that she didn’t want anymore regrets, she told herself that she didn’t run from things and that she deserved to be happy.

All Amy wanted to do was get back to the hotel to see Jake, but she knew he was out playing laser tag with her brothers and being as competitive as they are, she was unsure how long they’d be. Its early afternoon when the girls all leave the spa back to the hotel, everyone else goes to the buffet to have some food but Amy excuses herself saying that she needs to get something from the room.

She tries her best not to completely run away from her family, but you can’t blame her for being a bit eager to say what’s on her mind right now and settle this situation once and for all. The elevator ride was too long and she drummed her fingers on her thighs nervously, as if she was hoping it’d make the elevator go faster. She power walks to the room and harshly pulls out her key card to unlock the door. She walks in to see Jake pacing by the end of the bed with his eyebrows knitted together, clearly in thought and having not noticed Amy walk in.

“Hey”

She says as she walks further into the room. Jake jumps in surprise but walks up and wraps his arms around her.

“I missed you too”

She talked into his chest with a small smile, knowing what Jake was trying to say.

“I never thought I could be unhappy playing laser-tag but today proved me wrong, I did still beat everyone thought, gotta keep up my reputation”

Jake ended with a laugh as he pulled away from Amy, moving his hands down to hold her. They sit down on the end of the bed together, Amy decides she has to say what is on her mind before she implodes, so she takes a deep breath.

“Jake I really like you too. I have for a while but kept pushing the feeling down and telling myself it would pass but it never did, that feeling has always been there. I’m tired of running away and being scared and trying to play it safe and compromising my own happiness, I deserve to be happy and I’m always happy around you and I just want to have more of that. If you’d be interested of course…”

It wasn’t the most articulate and well spoken Amy thinks she has ever been but she meant all of it. Jake seemed to disagree.

“You said everything I was thinking in way better words than I was thinking” they both laugh “I am more than interested in being with you, making you happy, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you Ames”

They look at each other for a while before leaning in and having what Amy could only describe as the most content kiss she’s ever experienced. It wasn’t like she’s read in books where there’s fireworks and passion behind it – they had plenty of those last night – this one was more like a kiss that she couldn’t help but smile into, one that filled her up with warmth. A moment Amy wanted to cherish forever. They pull apart but keep their foreheads pressed together, Amy doesn’t know how long they sit like that for, just cuddling and being in each other’s company.

-

They stay in the room watching TV and doing some “extra-curricular” activities until its time to get ready for the last family dinner of the trip. Amy puts on the final dress she brought with her – a simple fit and flare black cocktail dress with lace overlay and capped sleeves. Jake’s cheeks reddened when he saw her all dressed up and looked at her in awe.

“Now that I don’t have to hold back, wow you look beautiful Ames”

Amy blushed, and she was glad to be wearing makeup since she thinks the blush covered her whole face.

“Thanks, you look pretty nice too”

Jake was wearing a nice suit with a tie she recognised from work, Amy would deny that she was also blushing from how good he looked.

They leave the room and go to the lobby to meet up with her family as usual, in the elevator Jake keeps his arm around Amy’s waist, making the most of this new level they’re at. When Kate later asks where Amy ran off to and why she disappeared for a couple of hours Amy quickly answered that Holt had called her about a case and the call went longer than expected, that seemed believable enough in Amy’s eyes.

Dinner goes fantastically and they hold hands whenever possible, even if they can’t hold hands Jake would have his hand on Amy’s thigh as if letting her know he’s always there. If she’s being honest, Amy couldn’t get enough of it, she had fantasised about this for so long and almost couldn’t believe it was real.

After dinner everyone says their farewells in the lobby as they’re on different flights to different states and cities. Upon entering their hotel room Jake looks at Amy with hungry eyes.

“That dress is amazing Ames, but I’m gonna be honest, I’ve been picturing taking it off you all night”

Amy just about collapses from how weak just that one sentence made her. She pulls him close by his tie and that was it, anything else in the world Amy cared about had gone out the window. For once, she didn’t care about clothes all over the floor.

-

** _Day 5_ **

The flight home went as smoothly as their ride there, but with much less hesitation in holding hands and small touches. They share a cab back to their apartments and Jake kisses Amy on the cheek before getting out of the cab.

Once Amy arrives home, she unpacks immediately and organises her laundry, knowing that Jake dumped his bag on the floor as he walked into his apartment and will not touch that bag for at least a week. She receives a text just as she finishes organising her laundry:

**Jake: ** _i miss you :(_

**You: ** _I miss you too._

**Jake: ** _wat u up to?_

As usual Amy tries not to cringe too hard at Jakes spelling and grammar over text.

**You: ** _Unpacking, like you should be._

**Jake: ** _uuuggghhhh wat if I dont wanna  
_ **Jake: ** _id much rather watch die hard_

**You: ** _Well then don’t complain to me if you run out of clean shirts because I have warned you._

They text while Amy makes dinner and as she watches an episode of Serve and Protect before going to bed.

**You: ** _I need to go to bed now to get enough sleep before work tomorrow, sorry._

**Jake: ** _aww okay  
_ **Jake: ** _i will see you tomorrow <3 _

**You: ** _See you tomorrow <3_

Amy smiles as she falls asleep, thinking about how excited she is to see Jake tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the Precinct!   
The aftermath of the Santiago Family Reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is the gripping and thrilling final chapter, I hope if you've made it this far that you've enjoyed your read. If you have made it this far thank you.

** _Back at Work_ **

Amy arrives at work twenty minutes early, as usual, to see Jake already sitting at his desk. She wonders how he even woke up early enough to get to work at the same time as her, let alone EARLIER than her.

“Good morning stranger, who are you and what have you done with Jake Peralta?”

Amy asks and Jake laughs back.

“Good morning to you too, don’t know why but I was just pumped to come into work today”

He smiles sweetly at her. They decided on the plane home that they weren’t going to tell anyone about them being together yet, just to allow them some time to have their relationship to themselves. Also, neither of them could handle Charles being in their business yet, they weren’t ready for that tornado.

Sneaking around at work was fun, Jake actually purchased sticky notes so that he could write silly love notes and draw love hearts and stick them in case files that he’d hand to Amy. Jake loved making Amy smile. They’d steal glances whenever people weren’t looking and brush hands if they walked past each other; only if the precent was quiet and no one could see, Amy wanted to be careful.

One day, Jake had told her to meet him in the evidence lock up in five minutes because he had something important to tell her. Amy started to get nervous at what that could mean, when she arrived five minutes later Jake was looking around in some of the evidence boxes and smiled when Amy walked in.

“What did you want to tell me?”

“Oh, just that you look pretty today”

“Oh my god Jake!”

She punched him lightly in the arm for scaring her like that while he just giggled. He kissed her on the cheek, and she blushed, they had been together for over a month now but he still made her blush just like when they were in LA.

“Thank you, I’m going to go back and do some paperwork, as you should be doing too”

“Yes yes, I’ll be back soon, I actually do have to get something out of here”

Amy grabbed his hand and squeezed it before letting go and walking back to her desk, she tried to hide the silly love-struck smile that was plastered on her face.

After a month and a half of sneaking around they decided not to hide the relationship anymore. Jake started to feel guilty for blowing off drinks with Charles for some out of nowhere reason.

“Sorry Charles, I gotta uh organise my fridge tonight”

“Oh! Do you want some help, I could bring over some leftovers I made the oth-“

“That’s alright bud, we’ll go for a drink tomorrow night, I promise”

“Alrighty, see you tomorrow!”

And with that Charles walked off into the elevator to go home and no doubt eat some very interesting left-over food he’s made. Jake looked around to make sure the rest of the squad had gone home and walked up to Amy.

“Ames we can’t do this anymore, I feel so bad rejecting Charles’ offers to get drinks”

“You’re right, I was thinking the same. But it’d feel weird to just tell everyone don’t you think?”

“Well maybe we just don’t hide it anymore? Ya know like instead of one of us waiting in the parking lot so it looks like we arrived at different times we just walk in together and treat it like no big thang”

He raises his shoulders as if questioning his own idea or being unsure if Amy will agree.

“Sure I’d like that, it’ll also be a lot less work not having to worry about people finding out anymore”

She smiles at him and finishes packing up her things to leave for the day.

“You ready to go to dinner, I’m starving”

“Yeees, lets go”

Jake responds with that signature goofy smile that Amy loves so much.

-

** _At Dinner_ **

Their conversation over dinner is about how long they think it’ll take the squad to find out.

“I’m going to tell Holt because I can’t not, he’s my mentor”

“Fine but he’ll be weirded out and probably just tell you to get back to work”

“Jake, he’s going to be mature about it obviously. You say Charles will catch on immediately, but I don’t think he will, I think it’ll take him at least a few days”

“Are you insane Ames, he literally never shuts up about how we’re perfect for each other”

They now laugh at this statement instead of groaning and rolling their eyes like they used to.

“Gina and Rosa will realise first, probably because Gina will get suspicious and talk to Rosa about it and then they’ll both figure it out, I’m confident on that one”

“Yeah you’re right with that one, Gina is surprisingly good at reading people that its scary, whereas Rosa is just straight up terrifying”

“You have a good point there. Did you finally clean your apartment so I can actually stay over for once?”

“Ames, please, you know that I didn’t”

Amy rolls her eyes out of fondness.

-

** _Precinct – the Next Day_ **

The next day Amy told Holt and it had gone well, he was rather stoic as usual and focusing on efficiency unsurprisingly.

“Congratulations. However, do not let this relationship interfere with your work”

“Of course not sir, I would never”

Gina and Rosa obviously caught on next. As soon as Jake and Amy walked into the precinct together and Jake squeezed Amy’s should before sitting at their desks Gina knew something was different and subtly sauntered her way over to Rosa’s desk, sitting on it and making herself at home.

“Did you see that?”

“See what, Gina”

“Jake, he touched Amy’s shoulder and wasn’t completely repulsed, meaning something is different”

“I guess so. What is your theory then?”

“You’re actually gonna listen?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No you don’t. So, I’m not meant to tell you this but I’m definitely correct so it doesn’t matter anyway but Amy asked Jake to pretend to be her boyfriend for a family reunion”

“Why”

“Because she’s an idiot. Something must have happened on that trip”

“They’re both idiots”

“True that”

Gina saunters back to her desk and instead of focusing on work, not that she actually does often, she observes Jake and Amy’s behaviour. Rosa doesn’t realise that she’s doing the same, watching them closer because since Gina mentioned it Rosa couldn’t help but notice the change in behaviour. They laugh together but its different than their previous banter and thinking about how they walked into the precinct together because Jake never arrived at the precinct the same time as Amy because she was always twenty minutes early. Rosa receives a text from Gina an hour later.

**Gina: ** _Yeah they’re together without a doubt  
_ **Gina: ** _Ugh congrats I guess  
_ **Gina: ** _At least now they’re done being complete idiots_

**Rosa: ** _Finally, idiots_

Rosa was always the queen of having texts that were straight to the point. Whilst Gina would have confidence in sending multiple in a row, Rosa would send one and you’d be lucky if it contained more than five words.

After texting Rosa, Gina texts Jake because Gina knows she’s right but wants to hear it directly from the source.

**Gina: ** _You and Amy together aren’t u?_

**Jake: ** _yeah _ _😉 _

Jake was almost in disbelief that he was already answering that question at 9:30 In the morning, it was scary how quickly Gina caught on. He wrote a sticky note to Amy with a smirk on his face letting her know that Gina and subsequently Rosa knew. Amy looked up at Jake and shrugged her shoulders after reading it and went back to her paperwork.

Jake had to stay back and finish off a case that day, so Amy packed up her things and went around to lean against his desk to discuss any dinner plans and as they were doing so Jake kept his hand on her knee.

“Can you please get Chinese, I’m craving it and I love you but I don’t feel like your cook-“

It was at that moment Jake realised what he had just said and stopped talking immediately as his eyes widened in shock. He cannot believe he just said that, sure they’ve been friends for a while being together but ‘I love you’ is a big step and what if Amy isn’t ready for that and Jake has just ruined their entire relationship. Amy must’ve been able to tell that he was spiralling because she reassuringly put her hand over his.

“Of course I’ll get Chinese, I gotta go. I love you too”

She smiled and squeezed his hand as she walked towards the elevator. Jake sat at his desk smiling to himself, he doesn’t think he’s ever been so happy.

What neither of them realised is that Terry had watched the whole thing and whilst he couldn’t fully hear the conversation, he heard enough to know exactly what was going on, and Terry loves love.

“So Jake, you and uh Amy, huh?”

“Yep, a couple months now”

“Awww” Terry gives Jake a hug that may suffocate him “Terry loves love”

And with that, Terry left the precinct for the day.

-

Anyone who knows Charles would know that he has been the biggest Jake/Amy fan since day one. He was the one who said Jake liked Amy before Jake himself realised he did. That is why after two days both Jake and Amy were amazed he hadn’t caught on yet, sure they weren’t waving their relationship in people’s faces but as their biggest fan they assumed he’d be all about it.

“Are you sure he’s okay, was he his usual self when you guys went to Shaw’s last night?”

“Yeah he was perfectly fine, he didn’t even question why I talked about you more than usual”

“Do I wanna know how often to talked about me to Charles?”

“Not at all”

Jake arrived at the precinct the next morning just after Amy, she walked out of Holt’s office after briefing him about a case when Jake met her in the middle of the bullpen to give her a coffee. She thanked him and kissed him on the cheek before they both took their seats at their desks. They then heard a high pitched, ear piercing scream and all looked over to see where it came from with serious concern. A scream in a police precinct was always concerning.

“YES!”

Charles had stood up and was waving his arms around cheering, he then proceeded to start hyperventilating and then pass out on the floor. Nobody tried to move or wake him up knowing that it was just him being way too overexcited about the situation, they made sure to keep an eye on him though, the squad aren’t complete monsters.

When Charles finally woke up he screamed again and hugged them both and started asking way too many personal questions to which Jake responded with

“Bud, we can talk about it at Shaw’s okay”

Charles was fine with that. Jake was hoping he’d forget some questions by that time but in reality, he knew that Charles would NOT forget anything to do with Jake’s relationship with Amy.

For the time leading up to her family reunion trip Amy had been beating herself up about being so stupid to say something without having a plan of action, but now she wouldn’t have it any other way. Amy always knows what she wants in life and never goes into any situation unprepared, but the one time she was unprepared ended with one of the best things that ever happened to her.

Jake and Amy’s first anniversary passed and both of them are unsure if Hitchcock and Scully know they’re together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! I'd appreciate any kind of feedback to improve in the future as I have many other WIPs that I'd love to improve on as much as I can before posting <3


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